Find my son's brutal killer - heartbroken father demands justiceWednesday, June 29, 2011 Leicester MercuryFollow.An angry father has demanded justice for his son, who was murdered 11 years ago.

Heartbroken dad Tony Corley lives with the agony of knowing that his son's killer remains at liberty and the case unsolved.

​Tony Corley

Mark Corley's remains were found dumped on farmland in County Durham, in December 2000.

The 23-year-old, who grew up in Eyres Monsell before moving to Lincolnshire, had been missing for almost six months. He had been shot in the head.

Today, in a moving interview with the Mercury, Mr Corley says: "I'm angry that the person or people who killed my son are still out there, living their lives, enjoying themselves – and the police seem to be doing nothing about it."

He believes he knows who killed his son and he has written a book about the case, More Questions Than Answers.

"I want to have my say. I want people to take notice of this and ensure the police take action. I believe they need to do more," he said.

Lincolnshire police said the case is reviewed periodically. "Should additional evidence or information be forthcoming, discussions will be held with the Crown Prosecution Service and every effort will be made to progress the case," it said.

Lee Marlow talks to Mark’s dad about his quest to get justice for his son.

There's an old file buried somewhere in a Lincolnshire police station titled: Mark Corley. Murdered. Case unsolved. Tony Corley, Mark's dad, imagines the file is dusty and yellowing, as no-one seems to have shown much interest in it in the past decade.

The police say the case is reviewed "periodically". It might be once a month. It might be once a decade. Tony doesn't know.

The central fact remains, however, that 11 years after Mark Corley was murdered, no-one has been convicted. His killer is still free.

It is this which troubles Tony. He's lived with this since 2000. It started as an ache in his stomach, the grief of a father mourning his son.

But it has changed over time. It feels different today, he says – bigger, angrier, ever-present – as his son's killer walks the streets as a free man.

"I am angry now, more than anything," he says. "I'm angry that the person or people who killed my son are still out there, living their lives, enjoying themselves – and the police seem to be doing nothing about it."

There's no justice, he says. And without justice, there's no closure. You can't move on when there are so many questions left unanswered.

"I think about my boy every day," says Tony. "I think about what happened to him, but I think about what might have been, too."

Mark would have been 34 this year. A grown up. In quiet moments, Tony finds himself wondering what Mark would have been like. What he'd have turned into. What he'd be doing. The kids he'd have had. The life they would have shared. The reality was taken away 11 years ago.

Tony, 58, lives in a little flat in Melton town centre. He's an easy-going chap trying to deal with a wrong that no-one seems interested in making right.

He thinks he knows why. His son, Mark, was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Darlington, six months after he went missing. He had been shot in the back of the head with a sawn-off shotgun.

It had all the hallmarks of a gangland execution; one bad boy taking out another.

Mark Corley was, by his own father's admission, no angel. Mark was a Leicester lad who grew up on the Eyres Monsell estate and went to Mary Linwood School.

He left Leicester when he was 15, when Tony and his wife, Eileen, divorced, and settled with his mum in Grantham.

He wasn't a bad lad, insists Tony, in that way that dads of troubled boys often do. Mark had been in prison three times, for various thefts and an assault. Tony has a valid reason to explain each spell.

"He was easily led, always falling in with the wrong crowd, getting into trouble," he says.

Mark may have been impressionable, but he wasn't a bad lad. He wasn't vicious or evil, just a bit, you know, rogue-ish. "A loveable rogue," says Tony.

Whatever he was or wasn't – and there were plenty of people around Grantham a decade ago who would have given you a very different description of Mark Corley – he didn't deserve to be shot in the back of head and buried in a shallow grave at the age of just 23.

Tony remembers getting the call when Mark went missing. It was June 2000 – 11 years ago this month. He'd gone missing before but this was different.

"He'd told his mum that he had to go away," says Tony. She knew something was wrong. He said he'd call her every day. It was the last time she saw or heard from him.

Mark wanted to pull his life around, says Tony. He wanted to join the armed forces but he couldn't, because of his criminal record. He wanted to stop running with the pack and to do his own thing.

"Mark's trouble was that he never had any money and he was falling in with the wrong sort," says Tony. It was this combination, he says, which led to his death.

They don't know what happened next; just that Mark was missing, and the whispers in Grantham were that some lads were looking for him. Bad lads.

"I spoke to him just before he went missing," says Tony. "I told him to behave himself and that if he ever needed anything, he only had to ask."

They made vague plans to meet up in Leicester to have a few drinks, have something to eat, watch a City game, perhaps.

Mark was reported missing in June, 2000. His badly-decomposed body was found in December, 2000. A huge manhunt was launched. A year later, five men had been arrested, charged and were due to stand trial for his murder. The trial was set to last two weeks at Nottingham Crown Court. Before the case even started, it was stopped. Judge Mr Justice Newman threw it out of court. Police in Lincoln had unlawfully taped conversations with the defendants and their solicitors.

Judge Newman was apoplectic. "This court will not countenance flagrant breaches of the law," he said. "I am satisfied there cannot be a fair trial. Justice has been affronted in a grave way."

Lincolnshire Police said after the trial they would study the judge's criticisms.

As the £2 million investigation collapsed and the suspects walked free, the Corley family were left in limbo. For 10 years, they have felt that justice had been affronted in a grave way.

Three officers received written warnings and eight officers received words of advice. None of them lost their job.

Tony describes his relationship with Lincolnshire Police as strained. "They never call me. If I want to find out anything, it's me calling them," he says. "It seems like they just want me to go away."

He refuses to do that.

He thinks he knows who killed his son. "I've looked at the evidence – and I've not seen all of it – but I have a good idea."

He could say more, he says. Much more. "But maybe I'd better not."

He's outlined some of this in a carefully-legalled book called More Questions Than Answers. Published by Matador, it cost Tony £600. He won't make any money from it, he says.

"But it was worth it," he says. "I want to have my say. I want people to take notice of this and ensure the police take action. I believe they need to do more."

Lincolnshire Police provided the Mercury with a short written statement.

"Nobody has been brought to justice for the murder of Mark Corley," they said. "A review is held periodically, in line with Force policy.

"Should additional evidence or information be forthcoming, discussions will be held with the Crown Prosecution Service and every effort will be made to progress the case."Unquote.You can bet your Parliamentary Pension that there are many more grieving parents ready to demand the same treatment and support you are giving to the McCanns, Mr Cameron...

Last edited by malena stool on Wed 29 Jun - 18:57; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Typos)

Very bad public relations considering the huge amount of money the Mccanns have received over the past four years and considering they have their own "detectives" which other parents of missing children can't afford. A huge mistake on Mr Cameron's part I think.

A huge mistake indeed, and one which he'll come to regret IMO. The trouble with Cameron, as with so many politicians, is that he thinks the media - especially the press - accurately reflect the views of the general public. That's utter rubbish, of course; the media take their own stance on everything and for the most part they sweep aside anything that doesn't gel with that stance. They do this both for silly subjects and serious ones, and they pay not the slightest attention to the views of their readers, even when those views are trenchantly expressed on their own websites.

People such as David Cameron don't seem to have a clue about the real situation regarding newspapers and the public who read them; they're curiously naive when it comes to such things. I daresay Cameron thought since all the papers were reporting about poor Kate's anguish and her pleas for help to 'find Madeleine', that it would be a good idea to give in to her demands, that that's what people would want him to do, his popularity would go up a notch, it would show the government as sensitive and helpful, etc. The truth of course is that most people just saw it as weakness on his part or as favouring the family of one missing child above the families of others; they also felt angry that the parents favoured in this way were also the parents who'd left their children home alone at night, who'd already received millions of pounds from the public to help the 'search', and who never stop demanding and criticising and trying to shift any blame away from themselves and unto others. Basically, Cameron shot himself in the foot by this act of favouritism and he has now set a precedent which will come back to haunt him (which is of course a very good thing).

Sorry - so busy thinking of the idiocy of our prime minister that I almost forgot to say I hope Tony Corley is given some help to have his son's case reopened. Unfortunately I think it's probably a vain hope, as it's clear only certain people in our country are worthy of help and not others.

mara thon wrote:Very bad public relations considering the huge amount of money the Mccanns have received over the past four years and considering they have their own "detectives" which other parents of missing children can't afford. A huge mistake on Mr Cameron's part I think.

A close friend of mine, who used to support the McCanns, believing them to be innocent, is now outraged at the cost to taxpayers of this SY review. I wonder how many more might feel the same.